Meet You in the Red Room
by TisTheEast
Summary: ...lock the door and dim the lights PRESENTING CHAPTER 3!!
1. Default Chapter

**Title: Meet You in the Red Room.  
  
**Author: Juliet (pandora1251@yahoo.com)  
  
**Rating: PG-13  
  
**Summary: .close the door and dim the lights.  
  
**Disclaimer: "I don't have much money but if I did, I buy a big house where Grissom and I could live" in less poetic terms: I'm a poor college student, don't sue ;)  
  
**Author's Note: this idea has been brewing in my head since before Christmas. Now I'm sure some of you are saying "But Juliet, you have about a million stories in progress, why would be so crazy as to start another one?" My answer is this: the idea will not leave me alone. It's been stuck in my head for a long time now begging to come out. This is not to say that my other stories aren't. They are on there way ASAP.  
  
Thank-you's: Gabe-for being you. Joe-for the endless trips to LaRosa's and Mavericks. Eric-I promise we'll make a trip to Atlanta soon!! Mr. Heman-for enriching my life with literature such as Milton's Paradise Lost. And finally to the Graveyard Shifters-thank you for your constant badgering for me to write (you know who you are hehe) and for all our fun chats.you guys are the best!!  
  
**Author's Note #2: I realize that this chapter is a bit odd..the use of the quotes and the general weirdness will all make sense eventually, I promise!! By the way, if you are curious, the title comes from the song Meet You in the Red Room (from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack vol 2). The two quotes are from Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe and Paradise Lost by John Milton.  
  
  
  
"You know, this is really going to kill this month's budget on Luminol," Sara muttered as she peered into the strangely decorated room.  
  
"But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet --a deep blood color," Grissom replied, as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. As Sara's funny look, he said, "The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe. It appears our victim was a fan."  
  
Sara merely nodded her reply, as Grissom began to dial.  
  
"I need you to do me favor," he said into the phone. "Come out to Shangri- La..no the mansion, not the club Catherine...yes I'm dead serious..yes I know it's your night off..fine I owe you dinner..I'll meet you out front in fifteen minutes"  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Catherine pulled up in front of the stately house, the music in her car at top volume.  
  
"So why exactly am I here?" she asked getting out of the car.  
  
"Well my guess would be the huge bloody mess we've got in there," Sara replied gathering some gear out of a Tahoe. "But it's nothing the two of us couldn't have handled."  
  
Catherine nodded, sensing the younger woman's defensiveness. As they entered house's impressive atrium, which was decorated in Gothic style, Catherine murmured, "Now I know why they call this place Shangri-La."  
  
"For Heaven hides nothing from thy view, nor the deep tract of Hell," a voice said from behind them. Catherine whirled around to find herself face to face with Grissom. "So what've got?" she asked, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. "Because I know you didn't wake me up at 2:30 just to quote Milton."  
  
Sara rolled her eyes as a guilty look appeared on Grissom's face. She found herself slowly becoming irritated with the way Grissom had of ignoring her when Catherine was around. "Like I said outside, it's a big bloody mess," Sara replied more tersly than she had intended. "But the weird thing is the location of the murders."  
  
"What do you mean?" Catherine asked.  
  
"Grissom," Brass interrupted, approaching the group. "I just located the last person to see our victims alive. She's requesting to speak with you."  
  
"Requesting you," Catherine murmured. "This is certainly a first."  
  
"Sara, you and Catherine go ahead upstairs. I'll take care of this," Grissom said as he made his way outside.  
  
"Apparently I'm missing something here," Catherine snapped, causing Grissom to turn around. "I've been here for 15 minutes and all I know is there's been a murder in a big house and it's a big mess."  
  
"Grissom, you coming?" Brass called from outside.  
  
"Cath," he said her name apologetically. Then he offered her a lopsided smile, "Meet you in the Red Room."  
  
****Why did Grissom call Catherine?? Why did the witness request to speak with Grissom?? And what the heck is the Red Room?? This and more in the next Chapter!!!! 


	2. Chpater 2

Chapter 2  
  
"I was walking up the stairs one day with a man who wasn't there..I wish, I wish he'd go away," a haunting male voice whispered.  
  
"Gil, for the love of.." Catherine said whirling around. She stopped however, upon realizing that aside from the corpse, she was alone in the room. An undeniable chill settled over her.  
  
Fighting off a shiver, Catherine peered out into the hallway, even though she could've sworn the voice had come from inside of the room. The hall was completely empty.  
  
"Hey Sara."  
  
"Yeah?" Sara answered poking her head of the so-called Blue Room.  
  
"Did anyone just walk down this hallway?" Catherine asked, hoping she didn't look as frightened as she felt. She couldn't even figure out why she was so scared all of a sudden.  
  
"Nope, we're the only ones up here. Grissom's still talking to that witness and David hasn't gotten here yet to pick up the bodies," Sara replied. "Why?"  
  
"Nevermind," Catherine sighed, heading back into the Red Room.  
  
A few minutes later as Catherine began slowly working on the blood soaked walls with a bottle of Luminol, a strange flapping noise came from the hallway. She paused in her work, looked at the body, then turned her focus back to the wall.  
  
"Hey Catherine," Sara said, appearing in the doorway.  
  
"What the--" Catherine exclaimed, practically jumping at the voice of her co-worker. "Geez Sara, don't sneak up on a person like that."  
  
"Did you hear that flapping noise?" Sara asked, not bothering to apologize.  
  
"Yeah, just a few minutes ago," Catherine replied, going back to her work. "But I'm sure it's nothing."  
  
"What's nothing?" Grissom asked, stepping into the doorway next to Sara.  
  
"What is this, sneak up on the blonde day?" Catherine muttered. She stepped out into the hallway. "I can't do much more until David comes to pick up our friend."  
  
Grissom nodded, "So do we have anything?"  
  
"Well aside from blood spatter that rivals a Jackson Pollock painting, no" Catherine replied, trying to shake a single strand of hair out of her eyes.  
  
"I might have something," Sara said, finally chiming in.  
  
As Sara led the way to the Blue Room, Grissom reached over and tucked the strand of hair behind Catherine's ear. His reply was a sweet smile. Before they reached the Blue Room however, David and a few of Doctor Robbins assistants came up the stairs.  
  
"You ready for us?" David asked, offering Sara a small smile.  
  
"Yeah," she replied. "We've got two over here."  
  
As Sara led David into the Blue Room, Catherine and Grissom lingered in the hallway.  
  
"So did our witness have anything productive to say?" Catherine asked trying to be casual even though she was very curious as to what was going on.  
  
"Just last known whereabouts of our vics," Grissom replied. Then seeing Catherine's raised eyebrow. "She's an old friend, from when I first moved to Vegas."  
  
"That's nice," Catherine replied, pretending not to care.  
  
Before they could get any further, Sara returned. "You know Catherine, David said he heard that flapping noise too," she said.  
  
Grissom looked at the two women confused, "What flapping noise?"  
  
For a moment neither answered. Then Catherine, with blue eyes wide, whispered, "Gil, don't move."  
  
All of a sudden, a huge exotic-looking bird landed on Grissom's shoulder. Catherine and Sara glanced at each other, then at Grissom, trying to figure out what to do.  
  
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary," the bird squawked.  
  
"Oh my god," Catherine murmured. But as soon as she spoke, the bird decided to move to her shoulder.  
  
"He loves you," it squawked. It then hopped to Sara's shoulder, "He loves you not."  
  
It then landed back on Grissom's shoulder and said, "He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood- bedewed halls of their revel."  
  
****Where the heck did the bird come from, what does it know, and can a bird actually be a witness to a crime?? Who is Gil's "old friend?" And what about that voice Catherine heard?? This and more in chapter 3 so stay tuned! 


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: special thanks to Anne and her bird, Blue for inspiration!!  
  
Chapter 3-approximately 10 am  
  
"I see skies of blue and clouds of white." Greg sang, bobbing his head as he poured a cup of coffee. "And I say to myself-"  
  
"What a wonderful world," finished a strange voice.  
  
Greg spun around to find himself face to face with a large bird whose cage was resting on the main table of the break room. The bird stared at Greg, who began to back out the room, almost bumping into Grissom.  
  
"Try facing forward when you walk from now on," Grissom said to the younger man.  
  
"Where did that thing come from?" Greg asked with wide eyes.  
  
"From the crime scene you're supposed to be analyzing the DNA for," Grissom replied setting another bird cage down on the table, this one containing a smaller green bird. "I'll be in with Doc Robbins so just page me when you know something."  
  
Greg nodded and headed back to the DNA lab as Grissom headed for the morgue.  
  
"How's it going?" Warrick asked walking into the layout room where Catherine had spread out almost 50 photographs of the Red and Blue Rooms.  
  
"We're going to have to back," Catherine sighed setting one of the photographs back on the table.  
  
Warrick nodded his agreement, "With all that blood there had to have been a hair or a partial somewhere. I mean no one's that careful."  
  
"Is Grissom still in with Doc Robbins?" Catherine asked, standing and stretching.  
  
"I think so," Warrick replied.  
  
"Well I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and see how Greg's coming on those DNA results," Catherine replied. "If you want to take a glance at those photos, be my guest. A fresh pair of eyes might do some good."  
  
Meanwhile Sara and Nick were on their way to the break room.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Greg said sticking his head out of the DNA lab.  
  
"Is Grissom breeding fireflies in the microwave again?" Nick asked as he and Sara walked in the break room.  
  
Greg, however, hung back. "I, uh, need to get back to the lab," he sputtered practically running down the hall.  
  
Nick and Sara merely looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"So where'd these guys come from?" Nick asked motioning to the two bird cages on the table.  
  
"Well the mouthy one is from the Red Room," Sara replied pointing to the large bird who squawked loudly. "And this little one is from the Blue Room. Isn't he cute?"  
  
Sara bent close to the cage of the small blue bird who was tweeting happily. "Hey little guy," she said softly. The bird hopped over to the edge of the cage and chirped.  
  
"Looks like you've made a friend," Nick quipped, but as he did so, the little bird made a hissing noise and began to gnaw on the bars of it's cage.  
  
Sara jumped back and muttered, "Okay maybe I spoke too soon."  
  
Catherine made her way down the hallway intent on one purpose and one purpose alone: coffee. So she definitely did not expected Greg to jump out into the hallway in front of her.  
  
"Going to the break room?" he asked.  
  
Catherine nodded, "Is there some sort of problem with that?"  
  
Greg placed a hand on Catherine's shoulder, "Be careful, it's a jungle in there...or rather an aviary."  
  
"Greg, how many times do Grissom and I have to tell you not to watch the Hitchcock movie marathon on tv?" Catherine sighed.  
  
"Catherine I swear, the big one was looking at me funny," Greg said, bobbing his spiky head furiously for emphasis.  
  
"Well I'll take my chances," Catherine said, moving past him.  
  
"Hey Catherine!" Greg called after her.  
  
Catherine turned, "Yeah?"  
  
"Can you grab me a cup of coffee while you're in there?" Greg said with a big smile.  
  
After Catherine had delivered a cup of coffee to Greg, who was now working hard on the case, she headed for her favorite quiet place in the lab to drink her coffee. Sinking into the chair behind Grissom's desk, she closed her eyes for a moment and let the warm liquid soothe her now raspy vocal chords. Lindsey had come down with a sore throat the previous week, and Catherine only hoped that germs hadn't stuck around long enough to infect her.  
  
"Excuse me, is this Gil Grissom's office?" a voice asked.  
  
Catherine opened her eyes to see a well-dressed woman standing in the doorway.  
  
"Uhm yes it is, may I ask who you are?" Catherine asked, standing. Visitors to Grissom's office were highly unusual.  
  
"Oh, how silly of me," the woman replied. "My name is Theresa Birmingham. Could you buzz Gil and tell him I'm here?"  
  
Catherine stared at her for a moment, then said, "He's in the morgue right now, is there something I can help you with Ms. Birmingham?"  
  
"Well my dear, if you could just see that Gil gets this, I would be greatly appreciative," Theresa replied, handing Catherine an envelope.  
  
"Will do," Catherine said, flashing Theresa a gigantic fake smile.  
  
As Catherine watched Theresa excited the office, she left her smile turn to a slight frown. Her frown turned into a glare as she watched Theresa spot Grissom coming down the hall.  
  
"What brings you here?" Grissom asked as Theresa approached him.  
  
"Well after I spoke with you earlier, I realized that the ideal opportunity for you to speak with Edgar's friend and associates would be at my son's gallery opening tonight," Theresa replied, lowering her voice to a whisper at mention of the dead man's name. "You remember my son, Reynard, don't you?"  
  
Grissom nodded.  
  
"I left the invitations with your secretary, feel free to bring someone along," Theresa continued.  
  
"Thank you," Grissom replied, wondering when he acquired a secretary.  
  
"Well I would love to stay and chat, but I've got an appointment a little ways from here at 11," Theresa said, glancing slightly at her diamond studded watch. "I look forward to seeing you tonight."  
  
Grissom merely shook his head as she walked away, still unsure whether his reunion with Theresa Birmingham at the crime scene was a blessing or a curse. He stepped into his office to find Catherine perched on his desk, holding an envelope.  
  
"Charming," Catherine said, giving Grissom an odd smile.  
  
"You know the old friend I mentioned?" Grissom asked, clearing his throat. For some reason, the entire situation made him uneasy. But before he could say anything more, his pager went off.  
  
"It's Greg," he said to Catherine, who handed him the envelope as she hopped off the desk.  
  
After a brief but silent trip down the hall, Grissom and Catherine were met by a very enthusiastic Greg.  
  
"I found something very interesting in these blood samples," the young lab tech began.  
  
Although Grissom barely heard Catherine's comment, he did not miss the sarcasm in her softly spoken words.  
  
"Do you want me to take a memo?"  
  
***What did Greg find in the blood? Will Gil attend Theresa's son's gallery opening?? Will Greg get over his fear of birds?? And what about that creepy voice Catherine heard at the crime scene?? All this and more coming soon in Chapter 4 so stay tuned!! 


End file.
